Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/66

 to-day we have lost sight of that principle grasped so firmly by the Angles and Saxons in their military organisation, a principle which made home defence not only the duty, but the privilege of every free-born man. They have given us our language, they have given us our literature, they have bequeathed to us that invaluable legacy, not only of family life but of colonial instinct, in which lies the germ of that larger Imperialism which Englishmen of to-day are called to share with their kindred beyond the seas.